Monthly Archives: September 2014

So, this has been one of my favourite songs for most of my adult life. Now, a week after the referendum, it’s taken on a whole new meaning.

It’s always been a bittersweet tale of forgotten dreams and lost aspirations, but listening to it in the context of post-ref Scotland it’s become an achingly poignant portrait of a generation’s lost hope. It’s spooky how well it fits, 12 years after release.

“That this House welcomes the result of the Scottish independence referendum and the decision of the people of Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom; recognises that people across Scotland voted‎ for a Union based on the pooling and sharing of resources and for the‎ continuation of devolution inside the United Kingdom; notes the statement by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition regarding the guarantee of and timetable for further devolution to Scotland; calls on the Government to lay before Parliament a Command Paper including the proposals of all three UK political parties by 30th October and to consult widely with the Scottish people, civic Scotland and the Scottish Parliament on these proposals; further calls on the Government to publish heads of agreement by the end of November and draft clauses for the new Scotland Bill by the end of January 2015.”

Wait a minute. Surely there’s something missing there? What happened to the bit about preserving the Barnett formula?

The original vow included this passage:

“And because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise revenue, we can state categorically that the final say on how much is spent on the NHS will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.”

So what happened? That part of the pledge can’t have been broken already, can it?